On
the Air
The phrase “Behind every great man is a great woman”
certainly applies to the life of sportscaster Jim McKay, who credits his
wife of fifty years Margaret, for his success in “Jim McKay: My World
in My Words,” which debuts on HBO Monday, February 24 at 10 p.m.
McKay gives Margaret, whom he met while they were reporters at
“The Baltimore Sun,” credit for his legendary career that peaked
with his handling of the hostage crisis in which 11 Israeli athletes
were killed at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The documentary, which was
written by McKay, traces his life from his birth in Philadelphia until
the present. McKay, whose
real last name is McManus lived here until he was 15-years-old.
He said he knew at the age of 12 that he wanted to be a
sportswriter like Philadelphia’s Red Smith.
The special goes over McKay’s triumphs as the host of
“ABC’s Wide World of Sports” and numerous “Olympic” games, but
the most compelling part of the show was a look into his personal life,
in which McKay and his family including son Sean McManus, the president
of CBS Sports, talked about his little-known “nervous breakdown” in
the winter of 1960. Telling
his then-employer CBS, that he had pneumonia, McKay could not do the
Olympic games due to his depression.
Margaret literally dragged him out of bed to see a psychiatrist,
and McKay recovered in time to do the summer Olympics that year.
In 1961, McKay joined ABC Sports, and the rest is history.
The “Daytona 500” airs on Fox at noon Sunday.
Philadelphia was one of the highest rated major markets for the
race last year with at 10.8 rating.
Teresa Earnhardt, widow of seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale
Earnhardt, will speak with Katie Couric in her first primetime interview
since she lost her husband almost two-years-ago on “Dateline NBC”
tonight at 10 p.m.
Kareen
Abdul-Jabbar will work as an analyst for CBS coverage of the NCAA
tournament this year. He’ll
join the lead team of Dick Enberg and Matt Guokas.
The former “Airplane” star has kept a low profile since
retiring from the NBA in 1989. He
had a coaching stint as an assistant for the Los Angeles Clippers (told
you he kept a low profile.) This is his first announcing job.
Eagles announcer Merrill Reese, Comcast SportsNet’s Keith
Jones, and a few other sports celebrities were at the Philadelphia VIP
movie screening for “Daredevil,” who looks like the “Sloman Shield
guy” Tuesday, which opens in wide release today.
Larry Bowa and Darren Daulton are expected to participate in a
celebrity roast for John Kruk’s final night on “The Best Damn Sports
Show Period” on Fox Sports Net tonight
(Comcast SportsNet at 11 p.m.)
Kruk will be joining the Phillies’ broadcast team this season.
An announcement about the replacement for Joe Kerrigan on
“Phillies Post Game Live” on CSN for this season should be coming
soon. Is Mickey Morandini
free? Final
Thought If the Flyers scored as often as Jeremy Roenick Toyota commercials aired, they’d be in first place. |